{"title":"Books by James B. Stockdale","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780817993924","title":"Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot","description":"Thoughts on issues of character, leadership, integrity, personal and public virtue, and ethics, the selections in this volume converge around the central theme of how man can rise with dignity to prevail in the face of adversity—lessons just as valid for the challenges of present-day life as they were for the author's Vietnam experience.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56294966624629,"sku":"9780817993924","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780817993924_456720fe-f6e6-4d44-8529-f8af8ad7361e.jpg?v=1786016433"},{"product_id":"a-vietnam-experience","title":"A Vietnam Experience","description":"The decade that followed James Stockdale's seven and a half years in a North Vietnamese prison saw his life take a number of different turns, from a stay in a navy hospital in San Diego to president of a civilian college to his appointment as a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution. In this collection of essays he offers his thoughts on his imprisonment. Describing the horrors of his treatment as a prisoner of war, Stockdale tells how he discovered firsthand the capabilities and limitations of the human spirit in such a situation. As the senior officer in confinement he had what he humbly describes as \"the easiest leadership job in the world: to maintain the organization, resistance, and spirit of ten of the finest men I have ever known.\" His reflections on his wartime prison experience and the reasons for his survival form the basis of the writings reprinted here. In subject matter ranging from methods of communication in prison to military ethics to the principles of leadership, the thirty-four selections contained in this volume are a unique record of what Stockdale calls a \"melting experience\"—a pressure-packed existence that forces one to grow. Retired Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, a Hoover Institution fellow from 1981 to 1996, was Ross Perot's 1992 presidential running mate and a recipient of the Medal of Honor after enduring seven and a half years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. He died in 2005 at the age of 81.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57481648406901,"sku":"9780817981525","price":7.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780817981525.jpg?v=1786089932"},{"product_id":"courage-under-fire","title":"Courage Under Fire","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn September 1965, US Navy pilot James Bond Stockdale was shot down over North Vietnam and became a prisoner of war. What followed was an eight-year test of ancient Stoic philosophy under the most extreme conditions imaginable.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eCourage Under Fire\u003c\/i\u003e is Stockdale’s account of how the teachings of the Greek philosopher Epictetus—a former slave who had known suffering—sustained him as he led his fellow prisoners through systematic torture, years of solitary confinement, and psychological warfare designed to break their will.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduced to Stoicism as a graduate student at Stanford University, Stockdale brought its lessons to the “Hanoi Hilton” and its hundreds of POWs as a manual for survival under extreme pressure. Epictetus taught that although we cannot control external events, we maintain absolute power over our judgments, opinions, and will.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThis rare firsthand account from the highest-ranking officer held in the Hanoi prison system demonstrates leadership in impossible circumstances.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStockdale shows how he and his fellow prisoners developed clandestine communications and resistance tactics, and how he convinced men to accept further torture rather than compromise their principles.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStockdale provides timeless wisdom on resilience, dignity, and maintaining one's humanity in the face of systematic cruelty.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten by a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, \u003ci\u003eCourage Under Fire\u003c\/i\u003e bridges ancient wisdom and modern crisis. Originally delivered in 1993 as a lecture at King’s College, London, it remains the definitive account of Stoicism tested in what Stockdale called his “laboratory of human behavior.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57502168580469,"sku":"9780817936921","price":4.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780817936921.jpg?v=1786780988"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-james-b-stockdale.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}